


Demons

by clarkesjade



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Angst, REMEMBER I DONT AGREE WITH EVERYTHING ABOUT THEM, a bit of stevetony fluff, also clintasha but its platonic, avengers fighting, basically exposing both tony and steve and clint, but i'd still love to see this in a4, i took a few of the lines and formed them so they fit the marvel characters, if you want to get a feel of the scene id watch the Nevermore episode of the 100, im not anti either of them, its short and just a scene, mentions of dusted characters, so don't take everything too seriously shes trying to get under their skin, so it starts and ends abrubtly, this is dark for stony and clint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-24
Updated: 2018-09-24
Packaged: 2019-07-16 13:21:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,716
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16086935
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/clarkesjade/pseuds/clarkesjade
Summary: Under the influence of the Mind stone by Thanos, Natasha is now under its control, and tries to break Steve, Tony and Clint so as to escape before they fix her, all while they struggle to keep their cool when presented with their inner demons.





	Demons

**Author's Note:**

> Hi back with another The 100 x MCU fic! This one was inspired by the Nevermore episode (3x11) which i love and i thought how interesting it would be if certain characters were forced to hear what their demons were. Keep in mind this is not anti Steve or anti Tony, and i don't even believe some of these things are true, it's just Natasha manipulating them by trying to get them to snap.
> 
> This takes place after Infinity War. Clint has seen his family turn to dust and went into hiding, only to be found again by Nat. The OG Avengers have assembled, and after a short battle with Thanos they rush to safety.

Natasha had been strapped down to the bed, Tony had used the gauntlet part of his armor to practically glue her to the bed. 

While Bruce went on a walk trying to think of a way to get the Mind Stone’s influence out of her brain and Thor was surveying the perimeter, Tony, Steve and Clint remained at the safe house. Bruce couldn’t be in the room with a woman who was trying to get him to explode. The controlled Natasha had already very nearly escaped them, and Tony was in the bedroom, taking first watch.

Natasha had gone frighteningly silent, in contrast to the chaos that had ensued when she screamed and fought them to escape. Her now crystal blue eyes were surveying Tony. The Mind stone, under Thanos’s control was whispering in her thoughts how to break him. If she got Tony to snap, she could attempt to break away from the iron parts on her hands and get out to tell Thanos about their plan. If they found a way to get him out of her head, they’d know Thanos’s plan.

Tony took a millisecond to glance at Natasha. The look on her face…it wasn’t her. The sarcastic, grinning, secretive but ultimately friendly woman had vanished, pushed into the corners of her mind by an infinity stone. Her slight smile was one of manipulation, a foreboding grin that acted as if she knew everything about him, and the unnatural blue in her eyes only enhanced her creepy aura. 

If only he had been quick enough to realize what Thanos wanted during their recent fight after the snap. He’d wanted to get close to them, put one under his control and get to safety again.  
They had just managed to pull away and get to an abandoned SHIELD safe house. Tony silently wondered if he would ever be given the chance to avenge Peter. Or get him back.

In his short glance, he noticed something dark red on her wrists, and narrowed his eyes, seeing that the cutoff metal had dug into her skin, and was causing too much blood to spill out of her body.  
Tony stood up, grabbing a cloth on the table he was sitting next to and carefully approached her. Natasha didn’t move, instead looking up at him. Her grin had disappeared, and she watched him with wide, curious eyes clean her arm, and wrap the cloth around her injured wrist.

“Thank you,” a soft voice said, and Tony looked down at her. Unless his mind was playing tricks on him, the bright blue in her eyes had dampened slightly. Tony felt a sliver of hope that the old Natasha was trying to break through. He let the tips of his mouth lift a tiny bit.

Natasha leaned back, and just as Tony straightened up again, she whispered something that made his own blood turn to ice.

“Do you ever see their faces?”

Tony didn’t respond, instead staring at her with a confused look on his face.

“The people you’ve killed,” Natasha continued, the sad look still ever-present on her expression. “New York. Sokovia. Do you even know how many people died before you put on this armor and called yourself a good guy?”

Tony grimaced, and let out a chuckle devoid of humor. “I know what you’re doing. You won’t get to me.”

He tried to hide the fact that his hands were curling into fists.

“I’m not trying to get to you, Tony. It’s me.” Natasha said weakly, still holding his stare. The crystal blue was still in her eyes, but still less pronounced. “I’m trying to explain to you. This armor, you throw yourself into it because you can’t do anything else.”

Tony took a step back and blinked rapidly. “Stop talking.”

Her eyes suddenly glinted. “You really are nothing without the suit. You’re weak.”

Tony felt something in him snap and growled. “I said stop talking.”

Natasha lifted a brow. “It’s a miracle Pepper hasn’t left you yet. Maybe you’ll have finally killed her before she realizes how dangerous you are.”

In the room next to them, Steve stood up at the mention of Pepper, wincing. He inched closer, preparing himself to take over if Tony lost it.

Tony, on the other hand, felt the urge to use the gauntlets and crush her hands. Make this version of Natasha feel pain.

The Mind stone could see it was succeeding and forced Natasha to go in for the kill.

“I mean, it’s your own fault Peter is dead. It’s your fault half of us are gone. No, Tony Stark needs to do everything alone! No one else gets to help. Tony Stark is always right and everyone else is wrong!”

Steve took another step forward, his heart clenching at Natasha’s words. Clint had also stood up, knowing if Natasha said anything else she would’ve pushed Tony too far.

Tony could feel his nails digging into his skin. 

And Natasha twisted the knife.

“Every time you try to fix something more people die. When will you realize, Tony, that we’re the ones who need saving from you?”

Tony couldn’t help it, his fist slammed into the wall and he wanted nothing more than to hurt the woman tied up and felt the urge to scream at her.

But Steve was already in the bedroom, pulling Tony away from a smirking Natasha. He dragged Tony’s resisting body into the living room, leaving Natasha to try to break out of her restraints.

Steve pushed Tony onto the couch, panting slightly. Tony was small but had tried very hard to break free and hurt her.

“Tony, take a break,” Steve said softly, his hand on Tony’s shoulder. He wanted to stay and see if Tony needed to talk about any of it, but knew Natasha would destroy Clint, seeing how close they were and how much dirt she would dig up on him. 

Tony was clutching what appeared to be a broken wrist, and Steve searched in the freezer for anything cold while Clint stepped into the bedroom to watch Natasha.

Steve found a bag of frozen vegetables and handed it to Tony, who reluctantly took it, looking anywhere else than at Steve.

“I let her get to me,” Tony muttered, swearing at himself for losing control like that. It was worse when someone he considered an ally told him things he already knew about himself.

“You don’t say,” Steve said kindly with a crooked grin. He looked back at the bedroom, which was silent, and glanced back at Tony.

“Stay here. I’ll let her beat me up for a while.”

Tony remained put, alone with his thoughts. He knew she was right. All he did was try to fix his mistakes, but people die anyway. Steve would’ve shut him down if Tony told him she was right. 

Steve had entered the bedroom, and Natasha was gazing at the two men as they took a chair up towards the wall. Her eyes were the strong blue like Clint’s had once been, and Clint struggled to stay in the room, wondering if this was how he appeared to Nat when he was under Loki’s control.

Natasha felt the Mind stone whisper commands. Time was of the essence. Soon they could break its influence. She narrowed her eyes at them.

“Well look at you two together?” Natasha smirked, watching Clint try to look away. “A united front. Do you remember, Clint, when you chose him over me, abandoning your family, your wife and children for Steve? Knowing you’d have to fight me? You keep leaving your family behind. This time there’s nothing of them left. Nothing of your children… and… what was her name? Laura?”

Clint swallowed, and glowered at her. “Don’t talk about Laura.”

Steve sat calmly. “Clint you don’t need to listen to this.”

“Aw,” Natasha tsked, adopting a baby-like voice and giving Clint a patronizing look of fake sympathy. “Good idea, Steve. Let’s protect Clint. Clint’s so sensitive.”

Clint sat up straighter, feeling his muscles tense. It’s not her. It’s not Nat. 

“Clint lost someone, everyone, let’s cater to his feelings,” Natasha said, pursing her lips and grinning mischievously. 

“We all lost someone,” Natasha said coldly, her voice no longer a mocking kind. “But we’re still standing. We didn’t run away. We chose to keep fighting. We had to drag you out of hiding just to get you back on the team.”

Clint glared right into her electric blue irises. “Stop.”

“But then again, why did we expect anything otherwise? Everyone knows you’re a coward. Pathetic. Useless.”

Steve threw a glance at Clint, who was shaking. 

Natasha smiled. “You can’t help me. You can’t even save your friends, your kids. Certainly not whatever her name was.”

“You know her name!” Clint yelled, standing up. Steve rose immediately, pushing him back.

“Clint stop,” Steve whispered. “Think. That’s not Natasha. You’re just giving Thanos what he needs. Us, fighting, distracted so she can get out of here.”

Clint couldn’t hear anything but the ringing in his ears, and shoved Steve again. 

Steve turned him around, directing him to the door. “Take a walk, Clint.”

Clint slammed the door behind him, and Steve sat back down slowly. Natasha’s eyes moved back to Steve’s, still smirking.

Steve glanced back at her, her eyes so blue and bright they almost reflected on her skin. 

“Looks like it’s just you and me now,” she said quietly. 

Steve sat motionlessly, hands in his lap.

Natasha bit her lip. “Oh come on, Steve. We had our fun together didn’t we?”

After a moment of silence, Natasha sighed. “It’s alright. We don’t have to talk about it. But I do need to ask you one thing.”

“Does it bother you that you’re the reason the Avengers are broken?” Natasha questioned in a dangerously low voice, her eyes flashing. “One man’s life. And you spit in the face of the world and you fight us. People who actually gave a damn about you. But you, you just threw that all away.”

Steve clenched his jaw. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Natasha’s smile spread. “Don’t I? I know how many times you’ve lost James Buchanen Barnes. You just never seem to save him, huh?”

Steve’s right hand gripped his left, nails cutting open his skin, venting any anger.

“It must really suck, trying to call yourself one of the good guys then play with people’s lives because you think Wanda’s or Bucky’s have more value. Diminishing the people of Johannesburg or Lagos or Romania. Yet they still see you as their savior. But I know the truth. You’re not a hero, you’re not trying your best. You’re just a bad person.”

Natasha cocked her head to the side, enjoying Steve trying not to react.

“You played with lives of everyone in this universe. And you lost because you’re selfish. One life over billions. And a robot nonetheless. You preferred the feelings of some girl who screwed with your mind, and everyone else’s on this team.”

Steve looked down at the wooden floor, barely lit by the weak lighting and the dark sky. She’s wrong. 

“You killed us, Steve,” Natasha said. “Bucky, Sam, Wanda, T’Challa, and how many others. Their blood is on your hands. Or dust.”  
Steve stood up abruptly, his hands running through his hair.

“You think you’re better than Tony because at least you fight for your country, or for your friends. But you’re just as bad,” Natasha whispered.

“Enough,” Steve said through gritted teeth, leaning back and focusing his anger into staring at the wall.

“God, you two deserve each other. Both murderers, pretending like you’re heroes.”

“They’re back!” Clint shouted, breaking Natasha’s hold on Steve. He exhaled, realizing he had been holding his breath and looked away from Natasha’s frightening eyes.

Steve stepped forward to the door, while Natasha’s mind went into chaos. Her smirk vanished, and the Mind stone’s influence from Thanos told her new instructions.  
Thor and Bruce emerged back into the safe house.

“We know from Clint’s experiment that excessive trauma to the head won’t work this time,” Bruce said, talking to Steve, Tony and Clint. “That only worked last time because so many people were under the Mind Stone’s control. This time there’s only one. Its hold is much stronger. Which means we’ll have to temporarily make her mind uninhabitable.”

“I’m not gonna like this, am I?” Clint muttered.

“How do you plan on safely killing her brain?” Tony said lazily, standing up. 

“Killing?” Steve demanded, eyes wide. 

Bruce shook his head. “The Mind Stone can control a mind if they can access it. If we turn her mind off, it should leave. But knocking her unconscious isn’t enough. The force has to be more powerful. That’s where Thor comes in.”

“What’s he gonna do,” Clint asked, confused. “Hit her with his axe?”

Thor silently held up his hand, and tendrils of electricity swam between his fingers.

“Wait,” Steve stammered. 

“It’s just a theory,” Bruce said reassuringly. “The electricity will create an uncomfortable home for the stone’s influence. For just a moment and then it could vanish.”

“Yeah, great,” Clint said after the complete silence that followed. “Or, you’d end up frying her brain and killing her.”

“I wouldn’t kill Natasha,” Thor said, staring at Clint. 

“Well I hope not willingly,” Clint said under his breath. 

“Bruce,” Steve said, over Clint and Thor’s bickering. “This could go really badly if you’re wrong.”

“I wouldn’t consider it if I thought 100% it would hurt her,” Bruce said in a small voice. “It’ll only last a second, just before it would hurt her brain. 

“Tony, what do you think,” Steve said, facing him. Tony crossed his arms and shrugged.

“It could work. Potentially—”

Tony’s answer was interrupted by a loud banging sound coming from the bedroom, that turned all their heads. The banging repeated, and Steve paled.

“She’s trying to break out.”

They sprinted into the bedroom to find Natasha twisting her body and trying to drag the gauntlets away from the bed. The gauntlets still managed to push back, hitting the bedframe with a bang.

They froze at the door for a second. Then Natasha let out a scream and overpowered the thrust of the gauntlets, freeing herself of the restraints.

Clint was the first to react, jumping onto her to slam her back on the bed but a swift kick from her knocked him to the side. Steve and Tony had arrived next to her as she stood up, and she didn’t hesitate in ducking Steve’s arm and shoving him back onto the bed instead. She pushed Tony backwards into a dresser. Thor managed to hold her back, putting her in a headlock. She screamed in frustration, biting and scratching to escape. The Mind Stone was yelling in her mind she had to escape now, or die trying.

“We have to try, Clint!” Bruce shouted as Clint stood and winced, gingerly touching his nose. 

Steve held down Natasha’s legs, which were swinging wildly. 

“Let me go!” Natasha screamed, her voice cracking. “Let me go let me go!”

“Just for one second, Thor!” Bruce continued, trying not to look at Natasha’s demented expression. None of them had ever seen her scream or act like this. Small wisps of electricity began manifesting in his hands.

Natasha’s eyes suddenly widened. “No, don’t do this.”

Tony looked at her, his brows contracting. Natasha found his concerned stare. “Don’t let them do this. You know it won’t work. Tony, please.”

Tony dragged his eyes away from her terrified expression, convincing himself it was just another trick of hers.

Steve heard her voice, and his grip on her lightened. He looked at Tony, who was backing up, wincing. 

Clint stepped forward, worry filling his thoughts, and Natasha twisted her head, finding her best friend.

“Clint it’ll kill me, you know that, it’ll kill me, please don’t let them do this,” Natasha cried. Her eyes started to water, and she wasn’t screaming anymore, instead she was whimpering. Her irises weren’t as bright blue anymore.

“Uh, Banner,” Clint said, his hand clapping against his mouth. 

“Step away, Clint,” Steve said loudly, holding Natasha down, only to discover she wasn’t struggling against him anymore.

Natasha locked eyes with Steve, a panic-stricken look on her face. “Steve—”

“Today, Thor!” Tony yelled. Bruce nodded at Thor, and the small lightning in Thor’s hands strengthened, and in the instant Thor let Natasha out of his grasp, he placed his hand on her head for a single second, the electricity spreading into her mind.

A flash of light and the familiar sound of electricity zapping, before Natasha let out a scream louder than before, her face contorting in pain. Then she slumped, and her eyes closed. She fell into Steve’s arms, unmoving.

“No,” Clint gasped, grabbing her wrist to feel for a pulse. Thor backed away, horrified. 

“I can’t feel a heartbeat,” Clint whispered, and his hands gripped his hair, wanting to tear it out. 

Tony leaned forward, pressing two fingers against the side of her throat. Steve looked up at him, but when Tony shook his head, his last bit of hope faded. 

“Wait,” Bruce said, peering at her chest. “She’s breathing.”

Steve placed his hand under her nose, and almost laughed with joy when he felt her exhale. 

“CPR,” Bruce said briskly, snapping his fingers. “Her heart. Thirty times.”

Steve placed her on the bed again, and he and Tony both made to perform CPR but Clint was already on the scene, placing his hands in the middle of her chest and pushing down repeatedly.  
Steve stood back, crossing his fingers. Natasha was strong, she could pull through, but he silently wondered if the influence of the Mind stone was gone. 

“Come on, Nat,” Clint whispered, and lifted his hands after he finished. Natasha was still completely still, her chest rising ever so slightly, but just barely.

“But she’s alive,” Steve said out loud, confused as to why Tony or Bruce weren’t doing more. Tony gave him a strangely blank look.

“We need a flashlight. If her pupils don’t respond…she might be…braindead.”

Steve felt like his insides turned to snakes and glanced at Thor who looked petrified. 

Clint stood up, looking murderous. He turned to Bruce. “This is your fault.”

“Clint—”

“Get off me, Rogers,” Clint growled, shoving Steve away and approaching Bruce, who was holding his hands up.

“I need to get the flashlight,” Bruce said calmly, trying to deter Clint. 

“Braindead?” Clint echoed. “You might as well have killed her.”

Thor sat down, exhausted and his head fell into his hands.

“Barton, shut it down,” Tony muttered.

Clint didn’t stop advancing, like a cat inching to his prey. 

Steve didn’t even stop him, he could only see the look a man who had now lost everything.

He knew it well.

“You’re supposed to be a genius, right?” Clint shouted. “What the hell went wrong? Were you thinking with the other guy’s brain?”

Bruce’s eyes flashed green and Steve finally moved forward, stepping between the two.

“Get the damn flashlight, Bruce,” Steve said. If her brain was still active, she still had a chance. 

“You sent a damn lightning bolt into her head and thought she’d survive,” Clint yelled, trying to get past Steve.

Tony snapped awake, his mind racing. If it was only her heart that had stopped… 

The light in the bedroom was dim, but he would try anyway. He forced one of Natasha’s eyelids open, and he swore he saw her pupil reduce. And then he noticed that her irises were a pale shade of blue like the afternoon sky, not the misty bright blue that was from the Mind Stone’s hold. 

“Tony?” Steve shouted, panicking when he saw Bruce’s skin turn a shade green. 

“A defibrillator…” Tony whispered, then glanced at Thor.

“Hit her again,” Tony said, and Thor glanced up, perplexed. “In the heart. Hit her again.”

Clint and Bruce had frozen and watched Thor without question curl his hand into a fist and send a bolt of blue light towards her chest.

There was a moment of complete silence, before Natasha’s body jerked and she gasped, opening her eyes and sitting up.

Tony breathed out, and practically fell into the chair next to him.

Clint and Steve rushed towards her, on either side of the bed. Her eyes were normal again.

She rubbed the temples of her head, groaning slightly. “Ow.”

Clint nearly laughed in relief, placing his arm around her and letting her relax in his hold. 

Steve threw a glance at Tony, grinning slightly. The two looked at Bruce, whose hands were still up and his body tense. Steve nodded at Bruce, which calmed him down.  
Natasha was also smiling but wincing and clutching her chest occasionally. Clint looked the happiest he’d been in a while, and after finding Bruce standing a bit away from them, he felt a wave of guilt.

“Sorry,” he muttered to Bruce. Bruce simply nodded slowly, putting his hands in his pockets. 

“We need to leave,” Thor said calmly. “Thanos will know he’s lost Nat.”

“Wait,” Steve said, looking down at her. “You know what he’s gonna do?”

“Vaguely,” Natasha said in a weak voice. “Bits and pieces.”

“Tell us on the way,” Bruce said, and he made his way out to the jet outside the safe house. Thor followed. 

Tony made to leave, and Clint helped Natasha off the bed.

“Wait,” Natasha said, stopping Tony, Clint and Steve. 

“I’m sorry,” she said quietly. “What I said…I didn’t mean any of it.”

“It wasn’t you,” Clint said immediately. Steve nodded. 

“Let’s just get to the jet,” Steve told her. 

Natasha glanced at Tony, who was silent. All it took was one look for her to say all the apologies she had, and Tony understood.

“It’s all alright,” Tony said. “We need to get going.”

Clint had his arm around Natasha, and the rest of them headed out of the safehouse, turning off the lights for the house.

Once all six of them were in the jet, Tony set it to autopilot and it rose off the ground.

Steve glanced at Natasha, who was sitting on the floor, ready to talk.

“So. What’s his plan?”


End file.
